How does working overseas impact lifestyle?

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24 May 2018 • 11:52am

Why are people choosing to work overseas?

For millennials choosing to work overseas, currency movements can have an impact on lifestyle. Much has been written about the plight of millennials and the financial gap between them and other generations. Recently the thinktank, Resolution Foundation, proposed a citizen’s inheritance of £10,000 as a way to plug the wealth gap that has plagued the UK and seen younger people unable to get a firm footing on the housing ladder.

This wealth gap, combined with the more flexible working arrangements of modern labour, have seen many younger people move overseas to seek out a better way of life.

The freelance life

Working abroad means the variable of exchange rates have an influence on an individual’s lifestyle. Imagine a freelancer is living and working in US, yet because of a client base of UK client happens to earn most of their income pound’s. This individual’s living costs will be subject to currency movements between sterling and the US dollar, which can have a serious impact on how far an income goes

At its lowest point in 2017, the pound was worth just $1.20, whereas at its peak it was worth $1.36. When you consider the reality of what that means, it reflects a rise in income as the pound strengthened throughout the year. Yet, as the vote for Brexit in 2016 taught us, sterling can also weaken in no time at all and this scenario represented a significant pay cut to many working abroad earning in sterling.

Bank beating exchange rates

We have teamed up with foreign exchange specialists moneycorp to bring readers Telegraph International Money Transfers. With fee free transfers and bank-beating exchange rates, our readers know they are getting a good deal. Readers can also access guidance on currency market ups and downs and find out how to protect earnings against the possibility of adverse rate movements such as those mentioned above.

One example might be a forward contract which enables an individual to fix a prevailing exchange rate even if they don’t need to make a transfer until down the line (note: may require a deposit). For those working abroad, such tools help them to budget ahead and ensure that rate movements don’t decrease income or increase the cost of living.

moneycorp is a trading name of TTT Moneycorp Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Service Regulations 2017 (reference number 308919) for the provision of payment services.